Two Sets of Teeth
by Starshone
Summary: Coming out of Runaway Locomon and An Easy Mistake, Takato accidentally eavesdrops on an interesting conversation at Ruki's birthday party, and, in the process, figures out something about Ryo. Same pairings as An Easy Mistake.
1. Energy

If he goes back to the party, Jen and Ryo will _know_ he was around, and they'll probably think he was eavesdropping on their conversation.

If he stays here, he _will_ overhear their conversation. He _does_ want to know what Ryo was doing in the digital world, but the way Jen has Ryo backed up against the wall in the shadows of Ruki's hallway says the conversation is meant to be private.

If he goes outside, he'll disturb Ruki, and she is clearly disturbed enough already. Also, Renamon would probably drown him in the pond. _Why_ did his parents never teach him how to swim?

Takato isn't like Terriermon. He doesn't like gossip, he doesn't read tabloid magazines, and he _definitely_ doesn't eavesdrop. Maybe this is because he doesn't have Terriermon's oversized ears. Maybe this is because Terriermon has never been in a betrayal of trust or death situation.

[_I'm stuck between a rock and two sets of teeth,_ Takato quotes to himself grimly, settling in for what promises to be a long conversation. He can only hope that it doesn't turn into a conversation of the intimate variety, like the ones he had with Juri in the park last summer after too much time in the sun.

In the beginning, he tries not to listen.

"Ryo, why'd you come from the digital world?"

"Because I was there already."

"Gee, I never would have guessed."

Silence for a moment. Takato doesn't want to think about what that means.

Then Jen's voice, low with anger, not arousal. "Ryo— Ryo, stop it. You're trying to distract me."

"Guilty as charged." The older Tamer sounds resigned. "But I missed you. Especially after last weekend."

"Which is why you took off to the digital world?"

"Look, I did get your e-mail, wrote a reply even, but you know what technology's like in digiworld, it didn't go through."

"You know how I found out you were there?"

"Process of elimination?"

"Don't be obtuse."

"Ooh, pulling out the big words, now, are we?"

"Ruki."

Takato winces. He doesn't want to be listening to this. Maybe he isn't a pacifist like Jen, but he hates it when his friends fight. Being in the middle of Jen and Ruki's scrap over Ryo was so awkward, and Jen just wasn't himself when he wasn't talking to the older Tamer. Even being in the middle of 'kazu and Kenta's short-lived argument over the amount of time Kenta spent with Tomoyo was awkward. (Then Tomoyo won a card match against 'kazu, and she became a part of the group in a way Juri never did.)

Ryo's been quiet too long. "What else did Ruki tell you?"

Jen is soft, but deadly. "That she found you alone in Amaterasu, surrounded by adult levels trying to sink their claws into the 'legendary' Tamer. That you didn't know, or seem to _care_ where Cyberdramon was. That she had to save you from a Tailmon."

[_Cat's Eye?_ Takato guesses.

There's something like...relief? in Ryo's defensive tone. "I could've handled it. The only reason that Tailmon got me is because I got distracted by Sakuyamon."

Sometimes Jen reminds Takato of his mother. "Start from the beginning."

Silence. Despite himself, Takato is intrigued.

"The night after you left, I started having these...nightmares." He sounds almost ashamed. "About you. About Sam."

[_Who's Sam?_ wonders Takato. The only Sam he can think of is Ken's older brother Osamu from _Digimon Adventure 02_.

"And I couldn't sleep, more than usual, and you know how Cyberdramon gets, 'cause he's part Milleniumon and all that, you've played the games, Jen. I just...had to get away. Go somewhere where I didn't _have_ to be all polite and nice and pretend I cared about – about the relationship between energy and the principal quantum number, where all that matters is survival, where I don't have to _sleep_. Because I didn't want to dream, I didn't want to fall asleep in the bed where you and I..."

Takato _doesn't want to know!_ He blocks his ears for hopefully long enough to just cover what he thinks is coming.

"...have stupid dreams where you turn into Sam or Sam turns into you and you _die_. I mean, I slept over at Sam's house a few times and vice versa, obviously we never..."

It hasn't crossed Takato's mind that he could block out the entire conversation, instead of just the bits he really doesn't want to know.

"...I still remember waking up and seeing him, and I guess because he was the first thing I remembered and I remembered it when you were around, I kind of associated you with him. And, you know, the hair. But I like yours better, Sam used too much product."

The hair? Osamu in _Digimon Adventure 02_ _did_ have hair _kind of_ like Jen's.

"And the thing about _this_ digiworld is that I've never ever associated it with Sam in any way. I mean, back at home, Sam was always dead jealous – oh, god – of Ken and I getting to go to the digital world. He kept trying to stop Ken from going, and it wasn't _just_ to keep him safe, it was because _he_ was desperate to go there. But with our one, when I went I hardly remembered anything about Sam, and I met _you_ there, so I thought if I went somewhere I only associated with _you_, I could sort of...separate you from Sam in my head."

Sam? Ken? 'This' digital world versus 'home'?

Okay, so Ken's subplot of pain was never Takato's favorite element of _Digimon Adventure 02_, but he's starting to think he'd probably better watch the season again. And borrow Jen's Wonder Swan Color.

"There's something else, isn't there." Jen doesn't even make it a question. "You had to ask what 'else' Ruki told me. What did she leave out?"

The older Tamer is silent again.

"After Amaterasu. She brought me to this glen infested with digignomes, do you know the place?" Takato doesn't. Maybe Ruki went there during his and Jen's and Terriermon's time under the water that wasn't. "Well, as soon as I woke up, she gave me much the same grilling you did. She got a more succinct summary, but it was enough to get me a pity hug." Ryo pauses. "And then...she kissed me."

A sharp intake of breath. Takato is thankful that Jen's masks his own.

"It was so warm and sunny there, and the digignomes, I guess she really wanted it..."

He doesn't think Ryo sounds guilty enough. He'd _never_ do that to Juri! And of all the people to cheat on, _Jen_? Who gave up a birthday party to go stay at Ryo's, who's been worrying himself to death over Ryo, who got grounded for the first time in his life and over the summer vacation too because for months he'd lied to his parents about seeing Ryo? And with _Ruki_, who Jen's already thought he'd lost Ryo to before? Takato could_ kill_ Ryo! He'll push him into Ruki's pond! Of course, Ryo strikes him as the kind of guy who knows how to swim, but—

A rush of displaced air derails Takato's train of thought, but he doesn't hear an impact.

"_Don't_ try to blame this on the _digignomes_ of all things," Jen hisses, and Takato realizes there are more effective punishments than attempted drownings.

"I'm _sorry_. Look, it was a _mistake_—"

"Damn _right_ it was."

This is the first time Takato's ever heard Jen say_ anything_ stronger than 'aw,_ nuts_'. The apocalypse must be coming!

Oh, wait, Mephistomon's an alternate form of Apokarimon, right? So that means they already beat the apocalypse. Man, it feels good to have saved the world.

Ryo sounds lost. Against his will, Takato finds himself feeling sorry for him. "Jen, I love you."

"Yeah," replies Jen, "well, you've sure got a funny way of showing it."

Takato only hears Jen's light footsteps because he knows what to listen for. As the footsteps fade, there's a sliding sound, then Ryo hits the floor with a bit of a thud. "_Fuck_."

Ruki comes back inside before he has time to think about it, and regards him with a fairly impassive look. "What are you doing, Gogglehead?"

"I, um..." Takato tries and fails to think fast. "Bathroom!"

She rolls her eyes, and points down the hall. "It's _that_ way."

Actually, he doesn't need to go, but now he feels obliged to act on the lie. "Er, thanks!"

He can hear Ruki turning on Ryo behind him as he walks down the hall. There's always something softer in her voice when she talks to him. "Interesting place to sit down, Sawayaka Kousen."

'Refreshing ray of light'...?

Maybe Takato will push them in the pond _together_.


	2. Heat

**A/N:** What Takato _doesn't_ overhear.

* * *

Ryo doesn't even look at her. "Go away, Ruki." 

Ruki is unimpressed with what she is hearing. "This is _my_ house; this is, as much as I hate to say it, _my_ birthday party. You can't tell me to go away."

This is the most dull-sounding she's _ever_ heard Ryo. It worries her. She'd expected more of a response. "In that case, _leave me alone_. You've caused enough trouble already."

"You're a bastard," she replies reflexively, but without any real heat. Honestly, it doesn't sound like he needs it.

"And you're not helping." Ryo glares. "Go sing your stupid song."


End file.
